


The Strangeness of the Vanishing Chat Noir

by LadySerendipitous



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Magical Coma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 07:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6844477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySerendipitous/pseuds/LadySerendipitous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was no surprise when Adrien did not come to school, but when he's put in the hospital it shakes Marinette's world.  If the teen super hero doesn't have enough emotional drama to deal with something odd is going on with Chat Noir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Strangeness of the Vanishing Chat Noir

**Author's Note:**

> This story wouldn't leave me alone but I already have three multi chapter fics to deal with so I am throwing this out as a oneshot, despite the fact it would have gone down better with more details as a multi chapter fic. Not much was done in editing and there's no beta, so sorry for any minor errors.
> 
> Please enjoy my attempt to angst up the fandom and I'll go back to writing some more fluff now.

Adrien hadn’t been feeling good. It was obvious to his friends as he was not as animated as usual, and his model smile seemed to be the only one to grace his face. The flu had been going around and it wouldn’t have surprised any of his classmates if he was just going through the motions when he really needed to rest. When his seat sat empty on Wednesday Marinette was actually relieved. A good day or two in bed and surely her crush would return healthy as ever. Still though she sighed, she hated him not being in class. Not only did she miss him, even if she still had a hard time talking to him, but she knew that school, even at it’s worse, was still the highlight of his weeks.

After school she didn’t have much time to mope about her crush’s absence since an akuma had terrorized a business building and her and Chat Noir spent several hours dealing with it. She wasn’t sure what was worse, dodging the flying copy machine, or all the office puns her partner seemed to have saved up for such a situation. If there was anything at all that had been odd about the battle it was that after they had fist pumped and Ladybug had went to check on the former victim her partner was gone by the time she turned back. Odd since he didn't even say good-bye. Figuring he had to leave in a hurry she didn’t do more than mentally shrug her shoulders before heading home herself.

 

The morning arrived to the worse news ever.

“What do you mean he’s in the hospital!” Marinette clutched her hands close to her chin, feeling for all the world as though she had been sucker punched.

“Shh, not so loud. We don’t need the whole school to know,” Nino said, his arm going around her shoulder. “I was lucky enough to get a text from his father’s assistant. She wouldn’t give me many details, except to say he was unresponsive when they checked in on him after lunch yesterday and I think the only reason she told me was because we’re bros. I would have noticed before today was over something was wrong with him not texting me.”

Marinette felt ill, she was shaky and her hands were clammy. “Can… can we go visit him?” she asked her friend in a small voice

“I don’t know yet, but I knew you’d want to know. I’ll keep you updated Marinette. It’s probably nothing too serious though. We both know he over works himself. He probably just hit his limit.”

Nodding numbly Marinette went to class in a very subdue mood. She guessed Nino had told Alya already what was going on as she gave Marinette a sympathetic hug when she sat down at their shared desk. The day, not unexpectedly, was horrible. Once afternoon classes were over she went over to where Nino was, like she had during every break during the day to see if he had any new information. He didn’t. “It’s not use to go to the hospital either. Nathalie says that someone leaked to the media Adrien was in the hospital and now it’s full of fangirls.”

Marinette groaned. She wasn’t surprised, but it was still disappointing. Alya had tried to suggest they go window shopping to keep her mind off things, but Marinette declined suggesting they might go on Friday.

 

Friday was a double akuma attack day. Morning classes had been ruined by a victim called the Holla-er, which had Chat Noir’s cat ears pressed up against the top of his head for about half the battle. Ladybug was glad to have returned things back to normal before lunch time. She was a bit miffed that her partner had disappeared once again after their fist pump, but she didn’t have much time herself before de-transforming so she let the mood slide away almost as soon as she caught Tikki in her hands.

The afternoon’s attack was enough to put the spotted hero on edge. “Okay I just said that the pattern was tele-ing and you didn’t groan or roll your eyes. Are you alright my Lady?” Chat asked from his position on his baton which was now extended to a pole. 

Ladybug was hanging from her yo-yo looking at the destruction that the television reporter turned akuma was creating. “Sorry, it’s just…” and she pointed to the middle of their view. “I have a friend in that hospital right now and I don’t know how he’s doing.” She then gave her partner an apologetic grin. She shouldn’t be distracted like that.

“Don’t worry Bugaboo, let’s lead her over this way and finish things up fast so you can go visit your friend,” he gave her a grin with an exaggerated wink. It was amazing how much better she felt just from such a small interaction. Chat Noir might have been loud and flirty and have a horrible sense of humor, but he was a good guy and one of her best friends and it was the little things at the moment that reminded her of all those good qualities that were not just the superhero but the boy beneath the mask.

Things did not go as quickly as either teen super hero might have wanted, but eventually the akuma’s item was identified, a microphone, and Ladybug quickly cleansed the akuma. With a victory fist pump and a smile at her partner, Ladybug only looked away a moment and when she looked back Chat Noir was gone. Something was up. This was not like her cat at all. In fact she was sure he couldn’t have disappeared that fast without her noticing.

 

Preoccupied with thoughts of the strange behavior of the black cat, Marinette went into the hospital and was surprised at the gruffness of the reply when she asked about Adrien Agreste. It seemed there were still fan girls and the occasional reporter trying to get information on the teen model’s condition. No, she couldn’t see him, and no, the hospital staff wasn’t going to tell her anything about how he was doing.

“Girl you should have just waited until Nino got some more info,” Alya said over the phone as Marinette rode the Metro back home.

“I know, but… I was in the area and I thought… no, I wasn’t thinking, but I’m worried Alya we don’t know anything!”

“I get you girl, but just be patient. Nino’s on this. Adrien is his best friend, remember. If anyone is going to know anything it will be him, but right now Adrien’s father is being super protective. Not surprising really.”

Marinette sighed. They all knew that Gabriel Agreste wasn’t a very nurturing father, but he also put a lot of constraints on Adrien in the name of protecting him. It was still a wonder Adrien had been able to get his father to agree to let him go to public school.

 

The night progressed horribly, if she wasn’t worried about Adrien, she was worried about Chat Noir. She paced, she fretted, she worried, she read the same paragraph of homework more than a dozen times. Tikki tried to talk her down from her mood, which helped, but only so much. She was a bundle of nerves and had no focus for them. Agitated she flipped through her sketch book and her eyes laid on a simple design for a dress shirt. She tilted the page in thought. “I’ll do it!” she declared into the quiet room, startling her kwami.

“You’ll do what?” the sweets loving creature asked her, flying up to meet her eyes.

“I’m going to make Adrien a shirt. It will be his welcome back gift!” Marinette’s eyes danced manicly. She needed a distraction and she needed hope. This project would be just that.

The project only lasted the weekend. The only reason it didn’t take just one day was because Marinette had gone out on Saturday morning and bought black silk. Silk wasn’t a material she was use to working with and she had to be careful as she manipulated the material. She was hand sewing the buttons late Sunday when she got the texted she had been hoping for all weekend from Nino, but it was not the news she wanted to hear. Adrien Agreste was in a coma. How Marinette managed to move the shirt away before she started crying on the silk, she didn’t know, but her sobs wracked her whole body and she fell asleep on her lounge in absolute misery.

 

The alarm waking her Monday morning was never greeted with glee. Marinette, despite living in a bakery, was not a morning person. This morning though was the worse. Tenderly she touched under her eyes, knowing they were puffy from her night of crying. She should try to hide it with make-up, but she almost didn’t care. Yet if she didn’t then she’d have Alya worrying about her. She knew her best friend had to have gotten the news from Nino too. The only reason Marinette guessed that Alya hadn’t called her was she had been with Nino. Poor Nino!

In the end Marinette made herself more than presentable for school and if she was quiet during breakfast, her telling her mother about Adrien’s condition was enough for her not to pry any further, but just give the girl a long hug before heading off the school. Marinette's foot was on the second step of the school building when a large explosion rattled the foundation. In the distance there was smoke. 

“I can’t do this today!” Marinette cried even as she started to run, looking for a safe place to hide and transform. 

When Ladybug swung from the rooftops, the evidence of her nighttime crying and emotional exhausted were absent. That last all of three minutes until she heard the familiar foot fall of her partner. She turned to look at Chat Noir and all strategies and plans on how to deal with Hawk Moth’s latest victim vanished. She stalked up to the blond and pointed a finger into his chest. “You!”

“Uh, yes my Lady?” Chat Noir looked a bit confused and blinked down at her.

“We need to talk!”

“Shouldn’t that wait until after we deal with the akuma?”

“No, because you keep disappearing as soon as the battle is over!”

His belt tail, which had been up straight since Ladybug first pointed her finger into his chest dropped as did his fake ears. “You’ve noticed?”

“Of course I’ve noticed! What’s going on?” It was taking all her willpower not to sound frantic. Her whole world was off kilter and she was not handling it well. 

Chat Noir looked away from her and to the side. “I… I don’t think I’m really here.”

Ladybug just stared at the boy in front of her for a long moment, then she grabbed both his arms and shook him, forcing him to look back at her. “That is the stupid thing you’ve said in a long time. Of course you’re here. I’m touching you right now.”

“I know, but, I don’t know how else to describe it.” He took a deep breath looking down at her and not for the first time she felt the intensity of emotion that came from his gaze. It tilted her further into unstable ground. “All I can remember is battle. I don’t know what day it is. I couldn’t tell you anything about what I’ve done lately other than help you. In fact that’s the last thing I vaguely recall as a thought while not transformed, that I needed to hurry up and help you.”

Ladybug shook her head, trying to understand what she was being told. “Are you saying, that this last week, after we cleanse the akuma that you, you have no memory of your life outside the mask?”

The ground shook and it wasn’t the shock of realization. Maniacal laughter was heard not far off. Chat Noir placed his hands on her arms. “I wasn’t keeping this from you on purpose, I just, I had no idea how to even bring this up. I don’t know what’s going on, but right now…”

The nod she gave was unhappy, but determined. “We’ll figure this out,” she told him confidently as they both turned, ready to go into battle.

It was not the worse battle the two of them had been in, but it was up there. They were out of sync and Ladybug suspect this had to do more with her rollercoaster of emotions than anything else. Chat Noir took far too many hits for her and she couldn’t believe he wasn’t there because she could hear the pain in his yelp. Still, when she captured and released the purified akuma she did not look over to the victim but her partner who held out his fist for their customary victory celebration. She did not lift her fist to his but instead grabbed his wrist to drag him away. She had only gotten a few steps before her grip on her partner’s wrist disappeared and she was clutching her fist. He’d disappeared!

 

“So good news,” Nino said before their afternoon classes started. Marinette looked up from where she had laid her head down as soon as she had come back from lunch. She was pretty sure unless that next words out of Nino’s mouth were ‘Adrien is on his way back to class right now’ she didn’t care. “I got us on the approved visitor list.”

Marinette looked at Nino and blinked. For the life of her she knew her friend was telling her something important but she just couldn’t connect the dots. Dots? Chat Noir would have liked that.

“Girl, he’s saying you can go visit Adrien,” Alya translated, putting an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. Marinette blinked, looking first at Alya then at Nino, then back again. 

“But, I thought…?”

Nino frowned. “Yeah, he’s still not responsive, but the doctors told his father that hearing friendly voice from people he knew might help. I’m going after classes. Right now they don’t want a lot of people there, but if you want to come with me.”

Marinette wanted to, she really did, but she shook her head. “You and Alya go. Maybe I can get my parents to let me go in the evening, or tomorrow.”

“Are you sure girl?” Alya voice oozed with sympathy.

Marinette nodded again. She wanted to see Adrien, badly, but she needed to be less of a mess than she was right now. Besides she needed to finish Adrien’s shirt. She needed to see something accomplished. The shirt was her hope.

 

The shirt was in a box in her school bag the next day. She had been too tired to try to go see Adrien with akuma attacks, homework, a shirt to finish and the emotional rollercoaster’s latest drop. She thought about Chat Noir. She thought about Adrien. She thought about Nino. She even thought about Chat Noir’s friends and family. Whatever was going on they had to be worried. He was someone’s son. He was someone’s best friend. It was a lot to think about.

“Are you going to show me?” Alya asked when Marinette told her about the shirt in her bag.

“No, he’s going to see it first, and he doesn’t get it until he wakes up!” Marinette stated. It was a decision she made while sewing the last of the buttons. Adrien absolutely had to be the first to see his shirt. She had stitched not just her hopes but her determination in the shirt as well. He would wake up.

It was like a good luck charm. Every time Marinette’s thoughts turned dark she thought about the black silk shirt in her bag. She was really proud of the shirt and she just knew Adrien would like it and that it would look good on him. She even found herself excited about going to the hospital to see Adrien as the day got later and later.

 

“H-hello A-adrien,” she called into the room after knocking once and opening the door. Like Nino had promised, she was on the list of approved visitors to Adrien’s room and was allowed to visit since he had no other visitors at the time. The room was filled with cards and balloons. She easily found the one from their class and she grinned. She then walked over to the chair closest to Adrien’s bed. “I-I hope y-you don’t mind me v-visisting.” Marinette then huffed, looking away from the blond model hooked up to monitors and tubes and she didn’t know what. “This is pathetic, you’re asleep and I’m still stuttering around you. You’d probably laugh if you could.” Marinette looked back at him, at his face and smiled softly. “Except you never have. You’ve always been so patient and kind and wonderful and …” Marinette bit her lower lip.

“The docotors say you might be able to hear us. I hope so. We all miss you a lot and we're going to have to catch you up on all the school work you've missed." Marinette looked down at her lap. "You need to take better care of yourself too. Dehydration, walking pneumonia, and a bunch of other things too." She examined the boy in the bed. "I heard they aren't sure why you're still not conscious. I don't understand a lot of the medical stuff, but I do know that if you needed anything Nino, Alya, just about anyone in class would have helped you. I would have! I hope you know that Adrien. I hope you know how much we all care about you."

Hot tears splashed on her hands and she rubbed her eyes. "I don't know how long I can stay, but I'm going to tell you a secret. I made you something. It's really nice, but you can't have it until you wake up. So, you need to wake up soon, okay?"

Adrien of course did not say a word. Marinette sighed and tried to make small talk for the duration of her time in his room. If asked she wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what she had told the boy about, but when the knock of the door came, followed by a nurse walking in she knew it was time for her to go. Standing she looked down at the blond one last time. "I have another secret to tell you."

No she wasn't going to confess to Adrien while he was in a coma, but she thought if he could hear her, if he did remember, maybe, just maybe when he was better he might ask, and then she would have to tell him.

 

"Any ideas? Any clues you can give me?" Ladybug called out to her partner as they were dodging multiple projectiles from across a banquet hall. 

Chat Noir tossed a tablecloth at the akumatized victim temporarily blinding them. "Um, well, the last thing I really remember was being sick in bed. Maybe this is all just a fever dream I'm having."

"Sick? I don't think," Ladybug's musing was interrupted by finally figuring out how to use her Lucky Charm. A rubber ducky, the programer themed akuma didn't stand a chance now. It was a few short moments, with a well placed pun by Chat Noir, when Ladybug smashed the possessed item, a pen of all things, releasing the dark butterfly. “Gotcha!”

"Well my Lady," Chat Noir said in a chipper voice that Ladybug just could not believe wasn't fake, holding out his fist.

She gave him a fist pump then took both his hands into hers. "This isn't a dream, even if it feels like a nightmare, but I promise..."

Chat Noir took one of his hands away, to place a finger over her lips. "Shh, I know my Lady. I trust you."

Her eyes had been focused on his cat like gaze, but it refocused to his hand, and she noticed his Miraculous. It was blinking. All the paw points were blinking. What did it mean. Blinking once she looked up at his face again. When she blinked the second time he was gone. 

 

"Tikki don't you have any idea?" Marinette was desperate for any sort of answer the kwami might have. She had watched Chat Noir disappear right in front of her. She wanted to cry or throw up or scream. Screaming seemed really nice right now. 

"Nothing exactly like this has ever happened before Marinette, I'm sorry."

"So you have no idea at all?" Marinette deflated like a balloon, sunken into her lounge. 

"I have ideas, but nothing I can work with. Not yet. Hopefully some other clue will surface."

"I just wish there was something I could do for him. I'm suppose to be Ladybug. Why can't I fix this?"

"I'm sure you can. It's just going to take a little longer that's all. Chat Noir believes in you and so do I."

Marinette sighed, she felt like she was letting Chat Noir down still, even with Tikki's encouragement. 

 

"Evening Adrien," Marinette greeted after tapping on the door before entering. There were fewer balloons then before. Some of them must have started to deflate. In her hands was a vase with flowers. "I hope you like carnations. I was going to get lilies but something told me they were not a good fit."

Placing the vase on the small table Marinette went over and sat in the chair. Adrien didn't look any different. If not for the falling and raising of his chest she could have thought of him as a life sized doll. It was an absolutely chilling thought. 

"Nino said he was here earlier." She recalled the DJ saying at one point during his visit Adrien seemed to not be there at all. When Marinette tried to get him to explain further, he couldn't. Said it was just a feeling he had. 

"Please come back Adrien. School just isn't the same without you. We... no, I miss you. I know I should be trying to cheer you up. Encouraging you to wake up. It's just I'm so tired. I'm tired of being sad. Nothing good has happened since you've gone. I think sometimes that my luck isn't so good after all. Why else would you both be..."

Marinette closed her eyes to the tears that were welling up. She took a shaking breath then slowly exhaled. "Sorry."

Marinette stood. She wasn't the luck or the hope Adrien needed right now. Looking at the boy that meant so much to her, she carefully picked up his hand, squeezing it while she looked at his face. Did it twitch slightly?

"I'll come back tomorrow," she told him softly as she gently put his hand back on the bed, patting it. She then turned and headed out, her heart heavy and the ever conscious pressure behind her eyes. 

The next evening she came with a book under her arm. "I know it's a little silly, but I thought I could read Madeline. Not the English though. I have a French translation. If you've never heard the story, it's about a little girl in Paris and her adventures."

Marinette settled into the chair by Adrien's bedside as she read the tale of the little redhead and her friends. Midway through yet another scrape of the rambunctious smallest of twelve Marinette put the book down onto her lap. "Have I told you thank you? For the time you came over to help me with Chinese when my uncle visited or the encoring words you gave me during your father's bowler competition? I know I was pretty flabbergasted by you wanting my signature after the Jagged Stone CD came out. You've been a wonderful friend to me Adrien, and I hope, really hope, you know I appreciate you. Even if I have a horrible way of showing it."

With a breath that was mostly a sigh, she leaned over and took Adrien's hand. His hands were bigger than her's. She knew that, but just looking at the size difference was fascinating for some reason. She noticed that the ring he always wore was on. She didn't think she ever saw him without the silver ring, and she took a moment to look at it closer. 

Marinette dropped Adrien's hand suddenly, her eyes going wide just as the nurse knocked on the door before coming in. She had to leave. She couldn't leave! Why was this happening now? Marinette looked at Adrien, her heart racing, as she closed the book on her lap. "I-I'll be back soon, I mean later, I mean, tomorrow Adrien... Sleep well, I mean, agh!"

And with that Marinette was sent out of the room by her own stuttering, sure that the evening nurse was giving her strange looks. She wanted to consult with Tikki right then and there, but had to wait until she was finally home and had talked to her parents. She loved them, very much, but right then and there she wished they were not so doting!

After escaping into her bedroom, Marinette opened her purse to let Tikki fly around. "What happened at the end there Marinette? You were talking like the second day of school." The kwami giggled, reminding her chosen of the rainy afternoon. 

Except Marinette wasn't having any of it. "Adrien is Chat Noir! Or, I think he is... I... I don't know. The ring isn't the same, but there were paws softly glowing green. I'm pretty sure his ring has never done that before."

The little red creature went from playfully flying around after a ling day stuck in Marinette's purse, to just hanging in mid air. "Are you sure?"

"No, no I'm not. The nurse came in, and I was too shocked and, how can Adrien be Chat Noir? He's been stuck in the hospital for almost two weeks!"

"Just take a deep breath and try to calm down Marinette."

"How am I suppose to calm down? That cat has been sitting in front of me this whole time!"

"I thought you said you weren't sure."

"I'm not but..." Marinette rubbed her face with her hands and then screamed into them, muffling the sound with her palms over her mouth. "We have to go back."

"Tomorrow."

"But..."

"Tomorrow Marinette. You need to do homework and try to get some sleep."

How Tikki thought she was going to accomplish either task, Marinette had no idea. Still though she tried to focus on her homework, and when it was done (correct or not, who knew) she went to bed. The sleep she was sure that would elude her, finally rested on her eyes, for when Marinette was woken the next morning to her alarm she felt almost rested. 

 

Anxiousness followed Marinette throughout the day. She tripped multiple times at school, stuttered out most of her answers to questions asked her, if not so totally turning them around people were left wondering if she answered them or not, and overall seemed like she was going to fall over from a strong gust of wind. Marinette was much stronger than that, but her outward expression didn't show it. Instead of having an internal struggle of what she might have scene and what it might mean, her body was reacting to the information while her mind was focused on just getting though the day, because even if she was correct, it still didn't answer the question on what to do. Ladybug was trying to make battle plans while Marinette fumbled through the day as everything was Adrien. 

"Should I walk you home," Alya asked in a worried tone. She hadn't seen Marinette this bad ever, and she'd seen many off days her friend had had since transferring schools. 

"I'm not going home," Marinette told Alya with a brilliant smile, shaking her head and neatly whacking her outstretched hand on the stonework of the staircase. Wincing she shook her hand wildly trying to get the sudden pain to stop. 

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Is that such a good idea. You seem a little...off."

Marinette patted Alya's shoulder with her good hand, her eyes a bit watery, but surprisingly cheerful. "Thank you Alya, but I told him I was going to come back today. I'll be fine. Promise!"

Alya didn't seem completely convinced as she waved good-bye to her friend and Marinette felt a warmness in her chest of the continued care Alya had for her. Marinette knew her best friend was having it rough too, with not just her but her boyfriend worried about Adrien, along with Alya's own feelings for a friend who was in the hospital. Alya had a big heart and Marinette felt blessed for having such an amazing friend. 

By the time she passed reception and was at Adrien's door she felt exhausted. She looked at the door for a long moment, trying to see if any plans would fall into place. None would, not until she knew the truth. With a deep breath she knocked on the door, the turned the handle. "Adrien...?"

Silence met her. For some reason she had expected to hear his voice. Why? He was in a coma, she was well aware of that fact. Yet it seemed like if this was happening, if this was the reveal he had been wanting, that she had been stalling, he should have been aware of it. 

"This won't be like with Dark Cupid. I'll make sure you know when you come to," she muttered mostly to herself as she stood near the chair. Opening her purse, Tikki flew out, but stayed close to Marinette unless someone show up unexpectantly.

Reaching down she took Adrien's hand, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles as she looked, really looked at his ring. It hadn't been her imagination. It was faint, almost hard to see in the fluorescent lighting, but there was the form of a paw, blinking in and out in green. 

Tikki's breath hitched. The fact Marinette heard it a feat. "Plagg is stuck inside!"

"What?" Marinette recognized the name of Chat Noir's kwami. He had been the subject of more that a few of her partner's stories. "Catacysm has been used. He's used it several times lately. How can the kwami, Plagg, still be in the Miraculous?"

"I don't know Marinette. He's defiantly in there though."

Still rubbing the hand she held, Marinette thought she felt a flutter of movement in the hand. She looked at Adrien's face, hoping to see some sign of life. His face was still though. Marinette felt her body sag. Here was her crush, her partner, possibly in some sort of magical coma, and she had no idea how to fix it. With her other hand she reached out and brushed his hair over his forehead to the side. 

"He was really sick you know Tikki. Adrien doesn't know how to take a break I'm starting to think. I'd almost say he looks better, healthier, right now then the last day I saw him at school," she softly told her kwami. 

"Come back Adrien. Please. I need you to come back. I miss you. I miss you in class. I miss you hanging out with our friends. I even miss you over the rooftops at night, looking for trouble. Please, please, come back soon!"

 

When Tikki and Marinette left the hospital they were both in a somber mood. Marinette had no idea what sort of emotions her little friend might be going though. She'd known Plagg for ages, literally. Surely she was feeling worried at the very least for Chat Noir's kwami. Marinette wasn't even sure how to ask Tikki how she felt, so she did all she knew how to do, which was nuzzle Tikki once they were safely hidden in her room. 

Late in the night as Marinette stared up at the sky beyond her trap door she finally spoke on what they discovered. "Chat Noir said he remembered thinking he needed to help me, Ladybug. Do you think that has anything to do with any of this?"

"What does your instincts tell you Marinette?"

"That that kitty is too good to me," Marinette smiled to herself despite how sad the thought made her. "That he'd risk his health, that he might have done this to himself... No, I don't think he meant to... but maybe he sorta did?"

Tikki patted Marinette's cheek in a comforting manner from where she rested on the pillow. "Chat Noir and Ladybug are meant to balance each other out. They're meant to be a team. He knows that as well as you do, but it is possible he's taken the idea the wrong way. Trying to pull his own when he should have relied on you."

"He thinks I can't pick up the slack?" Marinette felt her skin flush. 

"This is Chat Noir we're talking about Marinette. He's not just aware that you can take care of you both, he's proud of you."

Her skin still felt warm but it changed form. "I don't understand then why he... oh.... Oh! Adrien is always trying to be perfect, no, not perfect but, but he doesn't want to make waves. Cause trouble. Even with the mask he, he didn't want to burden me?"

"That could be it. It's something to talk to him about."

Marinette sighed. She felt like that was all she did ever more. "When he finally wakes up." There wasn't any 'ifs'. Adrien would wake up. 

 

She shouldn't have been happy to see the villain. She shouldn't have been excited. But she knew Chat Noir would be there. Adrien had still not woken in the two days since she knew his identity, though she went to the hospital and tried to talk to him. There hadn't been tears, and there hadn't been pleading. Marinette wasn't sure if she had exhausted all the tears or if she was still in shock that her pun loving partner was also her sweet, sensitive crush. 

"Good afternoon, my Lady. You look purr-fect as always," Chat Noir said landing next to her behind a flipped over car. 

"I don't know if I'm happy to see you or not," she told him in a deadpan tone. Probably still shock it seemed. 

"Meowch! What have I done to deserve such a tongue lashing?"

"By being so self sacrificing," she told him, turning and looking at him with an icy glare. 

His look back at her lost all the jovial joking. He looked hurt and vulnerable. That wasn't what she meant to do. "Shit," she muttered as she flung her arms around him. He awkwardly tied to keep his balance in his squatting position and carefully put an arm around her. "I'm sorry. Just the last few days have been hard."

"Is that how long it's been?" He asked in a hollow voice. 

Ladybug pulled back and nodded her head. "Kitty, is there nothing you remember from between battles? Nothing at all?"

His face screwed up in concentration. "I... I feel like I'm being teased," he finally said after a breath of time. She hoped she was giving him an encouraging look to continue. After another breath he did. "There's a gift waiting for me. Which doesn't make any sense since my birthday isn't even close."

"Are you kidding me? That, of all things, that's what you've remembered." While she did bring up the gift every time she went to hospital to visit Adrien, she would have thought something, anything else would make an impression on him. 

Chat Noir frowned at her. "I know it sounds silly, but I'm pretty sure it's important my Lady."

"It's not silly, it's just..." Well her explanation had to wait, there was screaming. They had really stalled too long. As one they leaped up and away from the car, ready to take the battle to Hawk Moth's latest victim. 

His puns were barely there, but once Cataclysm and one Lucky Charm later Ladybug was releasing the purified butterfly that had once been housed inside a jump rope. As they fistpumped, she started to talk quickly. 

"You need to wake up," Chat Noir's expression was surprise, but she didn't give him a chance to talk. He was going to disappear quickly. "You were right, in a weird way I think you are having a dream. This is real, but you are in a hospital bed. I know because we're already friends. I'm waiting for you to come back. I even have a gift I made for you." 

The look on his face was awe and she tried to reach for his hands, her vision becoming blurry with unshed tears. She hadn't run out of tears. Her hands never found his though and her tears ran down her face hitting the cement below. 

 

Marinette was scared. She wanted to rush to the hospital, but she was scared. What would she do if he wasn't awake? She was tired of being sad and she was tired of being tired. She clutched the bag to her chest that held the shirt as well as something else Tikki had insisted on. 

"Whatever else, Plagg will be hungry when he is released. This has been his favorite food lately," had been her kwami's words. As for the food in question, stinky Camembert. Adrien better wake just so her bag didn't start stinking of cheese.

When she reached the hospital there was nothing different about how she was received. She would have been happy to have been told Adrien was awake, even if it had meant she couldn't see him. With diminished hope, she knocked on the door to the room then walked in. 

"I was hoping you'd be up by now. You heard what I said at the end of the battle, right? You need to wake up," she put his hand in both of hers. Were his cheeks rosy? She wasn't sure. 

Nuzzling his hand to her cheek, she tried to think of something new to say. Something that could catch his interest. "I brought your gift again. You know it's a good thing it's not a baked good, or it'd be ruined by now. That isn't to say I won't bake you something, because I'd like to."

It wasn't her imagination. She felt his hand move. Lowering it slightly she looked closely at Adrien's face. "You don't have to always be strong for me Adrien, Chat Noir. I'm here for you, like you're always there for me."

There didn't seem to be any difference. She squeezed his hand. "And I'm going to make sure you know. Know that Ladybug and your clumsy classmate Marinette are the same person. Come on. You can't act too surprised. Remember how we first met. I fell out of the sky and tangled us both in my yo-yo string."

The twitching of his hand felt more like a weak grip. "I know I made a horrible assumption about you when you first came to school, but you fixed that. You where honest and sincere and at that moment I knew, well, a lot of things, and I'm not talking about that now," her voice was starting to be mumbles and Marinette knew she was getting off track. She cleared her voice. "But what I mean is that that moment in the rain, I believed in you."

Something dark shot up from Adrien's hand. Marinette had not been expecting that and dropped Adrien's hand taking a step back. She was all but ready to call upon Tikki to transform her, when the little red streak went to meet the black blob. 

"Ugh, can you get any more sappy!" Complained a masculine voice from the black blob. "She definitely one of yours!"

"Shh, she brought your favorite cheese so be nice," Tikki told the black blob that could only be Plagg as she guided him to the table near the bed. Once they were no longer flying around, Marinette go a good look at the kwami. He had green eyes and little cat ears and a tail. If it were not for his grumpy expression she would have called him cute. 

"Well hurry up. I'm starving!"

"Oh, right. Sorry!" Opening the bag she removed the shirt box so she could reach the cheese. She didn't even get a chance to hand it to him as the black kwami plucked it out of her hand and then flew over to the bed, sitting on the pillow with the cheese. The look he gave them was as if to challenge them to just try and take his cheese away. Marinette had no such desire and she doubted Tikki did either. 

Marinette looked from the kwami opening the container of cheese, back over to the golden hair boy. There was a flutter she thought around his eyes, then for sure a second time. A low groan emitted from his throat and finally, finally she saw those beautiful green eyes open. “Hu…? Ma-Marinette? What’s going on?” Adrien looked around slowly, in a groggy sort of way, like he’d done nothing more than wake from a long sleep.

“Y-you’re in the hospital. Been here a while now.” Her hands were fidgeting in front of her. She wanted to throw herself at him and hug him and never let him go, but instead she was standing there fidgeting, unsure what to do.

Adrien blinked at her, then slowly started to sit up. “Ugh, Plagg, do you have to eat that right next to…” his words stopped and his eyes grew big as he looked down at his kwami, then looked at Marinette and the kwami floating by her shoulders. He did a double, then a triple take and then flopped back onto his pillow. “Oh my god!”

“Do… do you remember, recall, I mean what happen, I don’t mean getting to the hospital, but I guess that’s important to but…” she was rambling. Marinette thought knowing who Chat Noir was, knowing that it was Adrien that was her friend and partner, that it would be easier to talk to him, but her nerves were still shot. She couldn’t think straight. All she knew was that they had a lot to talk about.

Thankfully, maybe, Adrien put his hand on hers to stop her and catch her attention. “It’s all a jumble right now. I’m not sure what’s really real and what I just… imagined?”

“Probably all of it kid. You were reckless and we both got stuck,” the black kwami said, having swallowed a piece of the cheese. Marinette wasn’t sure how he could have gone through half the wheel already.

“I, what?” Adrien looked at Plagg, his cheeks reddening.

“Don’t think about it too much,” Plagg said waving his hand as to end the discussion and then picked up another piece of the cheese.

Adrien watched his kwami for a moment longer than looked over at Marinette. “So I guess this means that…”

“… that the cat’s out of the bag,” Marinette said with a satisfied smirk betting him to his own punchline. It was the first time she had felt joy in weeks and the smirk spread to a gleeful smile. It was real, he was back, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“So, about this gift I keep hearing about?” Adrien had tried to pout when she had stoled his joke, but her smile was infectious and in the end all he wanted was her happiness.

Later there would be nurses coming in. Later Adrien’s father would be called. Later Nino would be texted. Later Adrien would see all those that loved and missed him. Later there would be long discussions and reevaluations.

Now there was hope made out of black silk and smiles made out of tears and a new chapter to a very familiar story.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me on Tumblr @LadySerendipitous.


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